Michigan Football: Scouting Colorado State’s offensive line
By Kyler Kregel
Center: #75 Jacob Gardner (R. Jr., 6’4, 315 lbs.)
Another transfer, this time from Nevada as Gardner was one of a handful of Nevada player who opted to follow head coach Jay Norvell across the conference. Gardner was a two-year starter for Norvell and co. at center, and has since started 21 games, so another experienced player. He has twice been named as All-Mountain West honorable mention in 2020 and 2021.
In the games we watched on Gardner, he was lined up at left tackle for the Wolfpack against Kansas State and against Air Force, but appears set to play center for the Rams this fall. And it’s fairly easy to see why, as Gardner is not as long as you would traditionally like for a starting left tackle, but is a very good athletic, moving with ease to mirror defenders and land blocks on linebackers at the second-level. He bends quite well, and plays with solid leverage, but does need to clean up the accuracy of his punch. The handful of times he’s gotten himself into trouble on the field was largely due to missing wide on his first strike, allowing defenders to gain leverage to his chest.
Add in a need to get stronger when anchoring against a bull rush and this Saturday could prove to be a daunting task for the Rams center.
While Gardner is arguably the best player on the Rams offensive line, he will be going up Mazi Smith at nose tackle, a player perfectly built to exploit Gardner’s weaknesses, specifically anchoring against the bull rush.
Smith is an overwhelming powerful player for the Wolverines, and should be able to stop any attempted rushing attack the Rams want to put together behind Gardner.
Right Guard: #67 Gray Davis (R. Sr., 6’4, 300 lbs.)
Another Nevada transfer, as Davis started 20 games for Mike Norvell out in Reno. The former Texas native was also an All-Mountain West honorable mention in 2021, same as Gardner. And also like Gardner, Davis is a very good athlete with quick feet and quick hands. His athleticism is very noticeable when asked to pull or chase down linebackers or safeties in space, as he closing ground in a hurry.
Davis is definitely a better pass protector than run blocker, in my opinion, as he is not as overly powerful in driving defenders off the line of scrimmage, or at least not as consistent at that as Bivens has shown he can be. He also has a tendency to lose his leverage and stand up fairly quickly into the block. He does, however, play with a relentless motor, and very solid technique as far as everything else goes. In double teams, he does a nice job taking half the man and then freeing off the double team when he needs to block the incoming linebacker.
Overall, a quality pass protector and high effort player who is pretty close in talent to Gardner. Those two should prove to be very solid pieces for the Rams offensive line once they hit conference play, but the strength and leverage of the Michigan football interior line could certainly give the Rams some problems.
Right Tackle: #52 Dontae Keys (R. Sr., 6’4, 325 lbs.)
The final projected starter, as Keys has the most experience out of the bunch, starting a whopping total of 35 games at Florida International and North Carolina A&T (the alma mater of Lions General Manager Brad Holmes as a fun fact for you Michiganders out there). He played right guard for the FIU Panthers last fall, but is currently projected to start at right tackle for the Rams.
Similar to Gardner at tackle for the Wolfpack, Keys is not as tall as you would likely expect for a tackle, but has long arms, which is actually more important. He has a very solid consistency to the way he plays, always under control and collected, never looking out of place. Exactly what you would expect from a seasoned starter.
More specifically, Keys does a nice job using his hands and arm length in protection. He shows the ability to strike with either hand independently, and is quick to readjust his hands as needed to gain leverage against the bull rush. He will see a bit less bull rushing at right tackle than he did at guard for the Panthers, but overall plays with a very solid technique in pass protection, and in the run game as well. Sort of does everything fairly well, but no traits that stick out as elite or anything like that. Overall, a very consistent player that should serve the Rams offense well going forward.